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31 October 2010

This post ran originally on 13 June 2009. Oh me oh my do I love art history and I'd forgotten all about this fantastic video. The point of my weekend re-runs is to give a second chance to some of my old material and bo-baby does this video need to be seen again.

Check this out. Someone posted this on Twitter this week and I've been watching it ever since. For the life of me I'm not exactly sure who posted it though. I think it was @leonagaita or @verdigrisvie though. If it were someone else I apologize and ladies, if either of you were the original poster, thank you.

I haven't gone off on an Art History tear in a couple of weeks and this video will do it for me. This thing's a brilliant, animated survey of the last 500 years of western portraiture. I love, love, love how this video's producer got to the 19th century and kept going up to the present. Far too often, people gloss over the last 100 years because they don't quite know what to do with it. That's unfortunate because even though it may not be immediately obvious, all art rests on the shoulders of the art that came before. This video drives home that point brilliantly and it does it in less than three minutes. Bravo!

If you're having trouble with this, follow this link. This video came from the great website GUBA, and it was posted by someone who goes by the name jun129. Thank you jun129.

This post ran originally on 29 August 2009 and I'm running it again to keep up the educational tone of my reruns this weekend. I can't repeat it often enough, science is your friend. There is no other method to understand the world.

It's Saturday and I'm feelin' the need to pontificate.

Against my better judgement, I logged onto that doggone Apartment Therapy the other day. I have no excuse other than I was looking to read something inane, and what better place for a fix of inanity than AT?

I found this:

Over the weekend we read about some recent studies showing that plant essential oils from common herbs—specifically rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint—can be effective as natural pesticides. Apparently just a few drops of the plant oils mixed with water can repel or kill destructive aphids and mites. This seems like great news for those trying to grow veggies and fruit at home without the use of harmful chemicals...

All plants are engaged in an arms race with the creatures that eat them. Plants defend themselves the only way they can, they evolve chemical defenses. Some of these defenses are aimed at a specific predator and some defenses are more broad spectrum. Human beings aren't usually the intended target in this arms race, and as a species we reap some really tasty rewards. So even though I happen to love the taste of rosemary, thyme, cloves and mint (to maintain the theme of the AT pablum I quoted above), I never forget that the taste I'm so drawn to in these plants is essentially a pesticide. I'm not the intended target, but if I eat enough rosemary it'll make me as sick as a single bite of rosemary does a katydid or an aphid. Rosemary's taste comes from a chemical made by the plant to act as a pesticide, and rosemary's certainly not alone in this. These foods and flavors aren't bad and I'm not saying that you shouldn't eat cilantro or mustard greens any more. Toxicity is a matter of dose. Period. A toxic dose of cyanide is surprisingly small. A toxic dose of water is significantly higher, but it's still a toxic dose.

The following is an excerpt from a lecture given by Richard A. Muller, a professor at the University of California at Berkley. He makes some great, though counterintuitve points about this whole natural/ unnatural division. I LOVE this kind of stuff.

Life is rarely, if ever, an either/or proposition. Divisions between natural and unnatural are arbitrarily drawn. Natural is a meaningless label applied by marketing departments. The current vogue for "organic" foods may have standards behind that label (for the time being at least), but it too is an arbitrary line in the sand.

Have you ever noticed that the bug spray Raid smells like chrysanthemums? It does because its active ingredient is pyrethrin. That's chrysanthemum extract. So what's the difference between spraying Raid on a tomato plant and growing a chrysanthemum next to the same plant? One may make you feel better but at the end of the day, there's no real difference.

30 October 2010

OK, I'm taking a break from my usually scheduled reruns to make an earth-shattering confession.

I don't get Halloween.

I liked it well enough when I was a kid but after the age of about 12 I just stopped understanding its appeal. I like who I am and I like the life I lead. So why should I dress up like somebody else for a night?

Let's get practical, practical. I wanna get practi-cal. Let's get into practical, practical... OK apologies to Olivia Newton-John. This post ran originally on 13 April 2009. Cleaning white grout joints is never fun but this trick may work. Along the way I thought it would be a good idea to lay some household chemistry on everybody. There's never a bad time for a little chemistry lesson, you know?

I get asked how to clean white grout all the time and my answer is usually, "Don't have white grout." Seriously, short of regrouting your tile every six months, white grout joints are nearly impossible to clean and keep that way.

However last weekend, I came across this article in the St. Pete Times. It's written by Tim Carter, a general contractor and syndicated columnist. Carter runs a website called AskTheBuilder.com and it's chock full of advice and how-to videos. He tackled the problem of white grout joints in a way I'd never considered.

His method involves the so-called oxygen bleaches that seem to be all the rage. Oxygen bleaches do use oxygen to power away organic and some inorganic matter, so I suppose I shouldn't use the expression so-called. However, how they're pitched is so laden with inaccurate descriptions of how they work I feel compelled to continue to use the so-called moniker for them.

So-called oxygen bleaches are made with sodium percarbonate. When sodium percarbonate is dissolved in water It breaks down and releases elemental oxygen that then bonds to whatever it can grab. Sodium percarbonate is hardly a benign substance. If it were benign it wouldn't work. As it breaks down, it leaves behind oxygen and carbon it's made from. These elements are less harmful than the leftovers from other cleaning compounds, but still, none of this stuff is non-toxic. While it's true that you need oxygen to live, pure oxygen will kill you believe it or not.

File this under the for what it's worth column, but chlorine bleaches also use elemental oxygen to do their thing. Household bleach is a solution of sodium hypochlorite and water. Sodium hypochlorite is made from table salt. Dissolved in water, sodium hypochlorite breaks down into elemental oxygen and hydrochloric acid. The atomic oxygen is what does the bleaching, but the hydrochloric acid goes looking for carbon bonds to break. This is not always a bad thing, hydrochloric acid is also the active ingredient in your stomach acid. The hydrochloric acid left behind by chlorine bleach may help you digest your dinner, but it does the same thing to the grout joints on your floor. That's why using chlorine bleach on masonry, concrete or grout is a bad idea.

Anyhow, here's what Tim Carter recommends to clean grout joints.

To clean floor tiles, all you need to do is mix any high-quality oxygen bleach with warm water and stir it until it dissolves. The next step is to pour the solution onto the floor tile so the grout lines are flooded, as if you had spilled a glass of water. It's best to apply the oxygen-bleach solution to dry grout so the solution soaks deeply. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the oxygen bleach to work. If it completely soaks in, add more solution, making sure there is always plenty on the grout.

The longer you let the solution sit, the less work you have to do. The oxygen ions work for up to six hours. To get maximum cleaning results, scrub the grout lightly after 30 minutes. Always pour new solution onto the grout as you scrub. You have to always scrub a little, but that's how anything gets clean.

Once you have clean floor tiles, keep the grout looking good by adding oxygen bleach powder to your mop water. Apply a liberal amount of mop water to the floor, scrubbing the tile surface with the mop. Leave the mop water in the grout joints without rinsing the floor; the oxygen ions will clean the light dirt in the grout without scrubbing. Come back 30 minutes later and rinse the floor with clean water. Do this each time, and you can avoid scrubbing the floor altogether.

Don't worry if your tile floor is installed next to carpeting. The oxygen-bleach solution will not hurt the carpet and can clean it. In fact, to clean carpeting with oxygen bleach, simply mix up the solution and use a sprayer to saturate the carpet fibers. Let the solution soak for 30 minutes, and then use a regular carpet shampoo machine to finish the job.

You also can mix up small amounts of the solution to handle small spills, such as wine or cranberry juice. It's always best to work on stains while they're fresh, but tile floors that have been dirty for years will come clean in no time with oxygen bleach.

I was over at a previous client's yesterday and he'd read the same article. In a miracle of timing, he was in the middle of cleaning his floors with Oxy Clean so I had the chance to see this at work. And it did work. If you have a dirty grout joint problem, give this a try. Sodium percarbonate doesn't work as quickly as sodium hypochlorite, but it does work.

Coverings is on the hunt again for outstanding tile and stone projects where sustainability was a chief mission.

Installations judged worthy of recognition will earn a spot in Project: Green at Coverings 2011 in Las Vegas. Project: Green is a joint program with Environmental Design + Construction magazine that's returning to Coverings in 2011. Projects selected for this distinction will enjoy exposure in a centerpiece display at the March 14-17th international trade show and conference at The Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. An added benefit is subsequent feature in a 2011 issue of ED+C. Entries for Project: Green are now being accepted with submissions due by Friday, January 14, 2011.

In 2010, Project: Green honored 12 entrants. They ranged from the USGBC’s own headquarters in Washington, DC; to a Whole Foods Market in Dedham, MA. Also among those recognized were a healthcare facility in Moderna Italy, and a residential project in British Columbia, Canada. In fact, Project: Green is open to both domestic and international projects. The key criteria are that they use tile and stone in a way that yields an aesthetically distinctive as well as environmentally responsible site, and qualify in one of the following categories: Residential New, Residential Remodel, Commercial New, Commercial Remodel, Institutional New, Institutional Remodel. Only projects completed between January 2009 and December 2010 will be considered.

The entry requirements include at least four photographic illustrations, along with two narrative essays. Essay #1 asks for detailed information on the tile and stone used in the project area, where it was applied and how much was installed; Essay #2 must describe how the project meets the judging criteria. There is no fee to enter, and it is open to architects, designers, builders, contractors, distributors, retailers, manufacturers and installers. Multiple entries are accepted. You can find all of the information you need on the Coverings 2011 Website.

To better get into the spirit of things, here are some highlights from last year's Project: Green. Since this is a blog about residential design (usually), I'm going to show the top picks on the residential side.

Next up is a new home in Winter Park, Florida. The architect and builder is Phil Kean. Phil's a friend I've known for a longer than either of us want to admit and it's a thrill to see him honored like this.

As if the house weren't enough, Phil won a separate award for the bathroom too. In addition to winning Best Bath for Project: Green, it was also named Orlando Bathroom of the Year in 2009. Bravo Phil! Check out the rest of his projects on his website.

So, if you're a designer or an architect with a sustainable project you're dying to show the world, Project: Green is your golden opportunity. It's open to entries from anywhere int he world and you can enter as many projects for consideration as you'd like. Go to Coverings 2011's website for full details.

Speaking of birds, if you haven't seen this week's episode of Nature on PBS you need to. You'll never look at a crow the same way again. I practically idolize them and this program blew me away with how little I know. Good job PBS.

27 October 2010

That's right. I drink tea. Deal with it. It's just an aspect of me, not the whole of me. I'm still the same person. Don't hate.

I've been drinking coffee since I was in high school. Coffee's just always been there. By college I was drinking it black. No contaminants for me. Real people drink coffee. Or so I always thought. Besides, I loved the stuff. Ten years ago I bought a roaster and started roasting my own for crying out loud. I not only drank coffee, I understood coffee.

I saw tea people as weak and high maintenance. Coffee for me was as much a statement about who I am as it was my preferred way to get caffeine into my system. Tea people weren't in it for the caffeine I thought. And since you never really had to acquire a taste for tea, I assumed that tea drinkers were people who weren't strong enough to get over the hump and learn to like coffee.

Don't believe coffee's an acquired taste? Set a cup of black coffee in front of a kid sometime. Hilarity will ensue, I assure you.

Anyhow, all of that changed almost a year ago.

Last December I was a house guest in the lovely home of Sara Baldwin, the doyenne of American Mosaics. Sara drinks tea exclusively. It wasn't 'til we got back from dinner that she broke the news to me that there was no coffee in the house. I remained cool on the outside but I was panicking on the inside. Waking up without any coffee in the house had long been a recurring nightmare but I was a guest. I was determined to tough it out.

The next morning I walked into the kitchen and Sara was making a pot of jasmine tea. I had a cup.

It was pleasant. Really pleasant. It had caffeine in it and for that I was grateful, but more than anything the jasmine tea was pleasant tasting. I'd grown so used to shocking my system into action every morning with the murky bitterness of black coffee that it never occurred to me that I could do the same thing a little more pleasantly.

I drove home to Florida from Virginia that day. It was a 15 hour drive and the the entire way home all I could think about was that jasmine tea.

Tea is made from the new leaves of the Camellia sinensis, a warm-climate evergreen shrub that's a kind of camellia, as its Latin name suggests.

I bought some when I got home and I started drinking jasmine tea. I've never been one to do anything half way so within a week I'd installed myself at the tea shop down the street and I set about learning all about tea.

As befits a member of the camellia family, tea blooms.

Nearly 11 months later and there has to be 30 kinds of tea in my kitchen. In the mornings I like a Lapsang Souchong. In the afternoons I like a good Earl Grey or a chai with black pepper. At night I usually go for something citrus-y and without any caffeine in it. I'm hooked on the tastes, I'm hooked on the ritual and I love the whole package.

By mere happenstance I ran into someone on Twitter named Jim Shreiber. Jim's a tea merchant in Chicago and he Tweets as @JimmyDoesTea. Jim's a riot and he really knows his tea. Jim's business is named Shui Tea and his approach is two pronged. He sells tea through the store on his website and he also does in-home tea tastings in Chicago. I admire his approach to tea and since he blends his own, he knows what he's talking about.

Two weeks ago I ordered some teas from him. I ordered a blend he calls Moscow After Hours, a maté blend called Caramelo Rápido (maté is made from the leaves of an Argentinian holly tree and is a parallel obsession of mine) and a non-caffeine tea called Cherry Bomb.

Moscow After Hours is my new afternoon tea. What a complex and delightful blend it is. He starts with a blend of Lapsang Souchong and high-mountain Ceylon. He then adds bergamot, milk thistle and safflower. The bergamot gives it the he familiar ring of Earl Grey, but the milk thistle and safflower leave it with an effect that can only be described as smoky. To quote from his website, "Smoky and strong, the assertive aroma will make those around you whisper, "What on Earth are you up to?"

I mix up my afternoons with Shui Tea's Caramelo Rápido. Maté is in a league all it's own and I don't care what anybody says it has caffeine levels that dwarf tea and coffee. Two cups of maté at around 3pm leaves me hanging from the rafters. Maté by itself is a treat enough but when it's roasted and blended with a hint of caramel it's almost heaven. If you've never had maté, track some down. You won't be disappointed. On second thought, order some Caramelo Rápido from Shui Tea!

Finally, my evenings are now spent int he company of a blend called Cherry Bomb. Cherry Bomb starts out in life as Rooibos tea blended with cherry, chili, rose, safflower, peony and carrot. Those disparate flavors combine into something of such stunning complexity that caffeine's beside the point. Imagine the flavor of a lingering cherry popsicle, with just a little earthiness, the scents of peony and rose and then a chili pepper end note that kicks you in the teeth. I can't get enough of the stuff.

Oh I still drink coffee from time to time and it'll do if I'm out and don't have any of my tea supplies handy but at this point, nothing does it for me the way a nice cup of tea does.

My orders from Shui Tea arrive days after I order them and everything I've purchased has exceeded my expectations in every way. If you're curious about the world of tea, I suggest you take a quick trip through the Shui Tea store. And if you're in Chicago, set up an in-home tasting with Jim, I'd love to know what they're like.

26 October 2010

It was that show tub that convinced me that Sicis, the Italian mosaic company, takes a model car approach to their marketing. By that I mean that they use their mosaics in unconventional ways to get people talking about them. There's no cynicism involved int his. They spend a lot of money on these projects. Every one of them is well-designed, well-made and for sale.

So knowing that, I wasn't surprised when I found out that Sicis is designing, manufacturing and selling furniture. All of these pieces highlight an integrated mosaic and it's interesting to keep that in mind when you see these fanciful chairs.

I'm not to worked up about any of these pieces and I can't shake the thought that any furniture they sell will be gravy. I'm convinced that having me write about Sicis mosaics is the whole reason this furniture exists.

What do you guys think? Are they just a company that's into a whole bunch of stuff or are these Sicis side projects part of a marketing plan? Do you think it's effective?

25 October 2010

You know, they're not half bad. There are some elements to them that we still do now. One of them has a separate water closet and I see more than one wall-mounted toilet. There's 1/2" mosaic tile, furniture-inspired vanities, funky wall paper that's not too funky and a floor tile in the last image that looks suspiciously like terrazzo tile. What's cool now isn't terribly off from what was cool in 1961.

See what I mean? If you have a bathroom that dates from the early '60s you might as well keep it. At this stage of the game things have come full-circle and the early '60s are fashionable again. I call it the Mad Men effect. If you can imagine Betty Draper spraying Aqua Net in the mirror, you're good for another five years at least.

People didn't really go off the deep end until the latter part of the '60s anyhow.

Again, see what I mean? Hot Dr. Pepper? I can't imagine drinking that stuff cold. If the ads are to be believed, hot Dr. Pepper was all the rage in 1969. I was four at the time so don't blame me. So if everyone was sitting around drinking hot Dr. Pepper in 1969, what on earth did a bathroom look like? Are you sure you want to know?

Ugh. See what happens when you drink hot Dr. Pepper?

I want a blanket absolution for every aesthetic choice made from 1968 through about 1984. I have no idea what got into people but mercifully, it passed. Despite the attempts to revive them by people too young to remember those years first hand, they are gone for good.

But seriously, a lot of the innovations from the mid-century era are still with us. Remember that blue bathroom from the beginning of this post?

Looking to recreate that nightmare from 1969? You're out of luck. That's just as well, some chapters need to remain closed.

So what do you guys think? Did the designers of the time get something right in the early '60s? Or am I just blinded by my fascination with all things Mad Men? Would you recreate one of those vintage looks in your home today? What is it about those mid-century styles that makes them look so appealing today?

This post is part of the 2010 Bathroom Blogfest, an annual blogospheric event that's been running steadily for the past five years. The participants in this year's Bathroom Blogfest are: